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Of Death
By Francis Bacon
MEN fear death, as children fear to go in the dark; and as that natural fear in children is increased with tales, so is the other. Certainly, the contemplation of death, as the wages of sin and passage to another world, is holy and religious; but the fear of it, as a tribute due unto nature, is weak. Yet in religious meditations there is sometimes mixture of vanity and of superstition. You shall read in some of the friars’ books of mortification, that a man should think with himself what the pain is if he have but his finger’s end pressed or tortured, and thereby imagine what the pains of death are, when the whole body is corrupted and dissolved; when many times death passeth with less pain than the torture of a limb; for the most vital parts are not the quickest of sense.
And by him that spake only as a philosopher and natural man, it was well said, Pompa mortis magis terret, quam mors ipsa [It is the accompaniments of death that are frightful rather than death itself]. Groans and convulsions, and a discolored face, and friends weeping, and blacks, and obsequies, and the like, show death terrible. It is worthy the observing, that there is no passion in the mind of man so weak, but it mates and masters the fear of death; and therefore death is no such terrible enemy when a man hath so many attendants about him that can win the combat of him. Revenge triumphs over death; love slights it; honor aspireth to it; grief flieth to it; fear pre-occupateth it; nay, we read, after Otho the emperor had slain himself, pity (which is the tenderest of affections) provoked many to die, out of mere compassion to their sovereign, and as the truest sort of followers.
Nay, Seneca adds niceness and satiety: Cogita quamdiu eadem feceris; mori velle, non tantum fortis aut miser, sed etiam fastidiosus potest [Think how long thou hast done the same thing; not only a valiant man or a miserable man, but also a fastidious man is able to wish for death]. A man would die, though he were neither valiant nor miserable, only upon a weariness to do the same thing so oft over and over. It is no less worthy to observe, how little alteration in good spirits the approaches of death make; for they appear to be the same men till the last instant. Augustus Cæsar died in a compliment; Livia, conjugii nostri memor, vive et vale [Farewell, Livia; and forget not the days of our marriage]. Tiberius in dissimulation; as Tacitus saith of him, Jam Tiberium vires et corpus, non dissimulatio, deserebant [His powers of body were gone, but his power of dissimulation still remained]. Vespasian in a jest, sitting upon the stool; Ut puto deus fio [As I think, I am becoming a god].
Galba with a sentence; Feri, si ex re sit populi Romani [Strike, if it be for the good of Rome]; holding forth his neck. Septimius Severus in despatch; Adeste si quid mihi restat agendum [Be at hand, if there is anything more for me to do]. And the like. Certainly the Stoics bestowed too much cost upon death, and by their great preparations made it appear more fearful. Better saith he, qui finem vitæ extremum inter munera ponat naturæ [who accounts the close of life as one of the benefits of nature]. It is as natural to die as to be born; and to a little infant, perhaps, the one is as painful as the other. He that dies in an earnest pursuit, is like one that is wounded in hot blood; who, for the time, scarce feels the hurt; and therefore a mind fixed and bent upon somewhat that is good doth avert the dolers of death.
But, above all, believe it, the sweetest canticle is, Nunc dimittis [Now lettest thou … depart]; when a man hath obtained worthy ends and expectations. Death hath this also; that it openeth the gate to good fame, and extinguisheth envy. Extinctus amabitur idem [The same man that was envied while he lived, shall be loved when he is gone].
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死亡論
作者：佛朗西斯·培根
成年人怕死，猶如孩童懼怕行走於黑暗之中；孩童天性怕死程度會隨著所聽到的離奇故事而日益加劇，成年人亦如此。當然，把死作為罪惡的報應或通往另一世界來看待，乃超凡入聖且具有宗教色彩；但把對死亡的恐懼視為向造物主供奉的祭品，則是膽小懦弱的表現。參禪打坐有時會摻雜一些虛無縹緲和荒誕迷信的東西。大家不妨看看天主教修道士的禁欲書，其中有這樣一句話，人應自省其身，當指尖被碾壓或者受刑折磨之時，苦痛如何？進而試想全身腐爛消散之時，死亡之痛又如何？千死萬死都不如某個肢體受折磨來得更痛苦，因為人體要害部位並非最為敏感。
隻以哲學家和平常人身份自居的那位古人（賽尼卡）說得好，“死亡本身並不恐怖，恐怖的是伴隨死亡接踵而來的附加之物。”呻吟、抽搐、失去光澤的臉龐，親朋好友的哭泣、玄皂青蒼的裝飾以及殯儀葬禮等等，都給人們呈現出死亡的可怕景象。值得注意的是，人類心中的激情並非如此軟弱，還不至於被死亡的恐懼而擊敗並掌控；因此，一個人有許多侍從跟隨他並打贏勝仗時，死亡就算不上是多麽可怕的敵人了。複仇之火戰勝死亡；憐愛之心蔑視死亡；榮譽之感渴望死亡；悲傷之情飛向死亡；恐懼之態預示死亡。我們還可以讀到，奧索皇帝自戕後，悲憫之心（這是最溫柔的那種情感）曾激怒了多少追隨者為其犧牲，純粹為了擁戴並效忠他們這位君王。
賽尼卡接著就苛求和厭膩補充說：“念及周而複始所做重複之事，欲赴黃泉者，並非因其為勇敢之輩或可憐之流，還有那些活膩尋死之人。”人之將死，既非勇猛也非可憐，而是對所做單調重複之事而心生厭倦。同樣值得人們注意的是，死神降臨之際，他們不動聲色，直到生命最後一刻，看上去依然鎮定如故。奧古斯特·凱撒臨終之際與妻子話別時說：“好好活著，莉薇婭，請記住我們夫妻共度的那些美好日子。”提伯瑞思臨死之際仍隱瞞其病情已入膏肓，坦森特思如是說：“其體力早已殆盡，而隱瞞之力尚存。”韋斯巴薌臨終之前坐在一個小板凳上時，還在開玩笑：“我覺得要升仙了。”
伽爾巴臨死留下一句話：“如果這樣有益於羅馬，你們就砍吧。”話音剛落，引頸自刎，塞普蒂米烏斯·塞維魯臨死之前仍在調兵遣將：“若還有我未辦之事，請呈上來。”諸如此類，不勝枚舉。當然斯多葛學派認為死亡代價過高，因為他們為迎接死亡而準備過多，使得死亡看起來更為可怕。另一位古人說得好：“生命之結束乃造物主提供之福利。”生死皆自然現象，對於繈褓幼嬰，生死也許同樣痛苦。在不懈追求中死亡，如同浴血奮戰而負傷，暫時不會覺得苦痛。
因此，懷有堅定信念和決心向善之人必然會躲過死亡之哀痛。但是最美的聖歌莫過於當一個人實現崇高理想並且不負所望時，然後唱著：“現在是我該走的時候了…”死亡打開名聲大門，並消除嫉妒。“生前遭妒之人死後必得世人愛戴。”
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